Surely one of the best UFC cards of the 1990s, UFC 8: David vs. Goliath was the first UFC event of 1996 and featured the promotional debuts of some of the biggest stars of that era, including Don “The Predator” Frye and “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge, both of whom battled their way to the finals, where Frye earned the victory by way of submission due to strikes just 2:14 into the fight. Also on the card was the Superfight Championship bout between Ken Shamrock and Kimo Leopoldo, both of whom competed in the original UFC tournament three years earlier. Shamrock reaffirmed his position as the best fighter in the UFC at the time with a kneebar submission at the 4:24 mark to retain the Superfight Championship.

UFC 8 was unique in the fact that every match of the tournament carried a ten-minute time limit, perhaps in response to previous cards stretching beyond the allotted time slots of the Pay Per View broadcast. As was the case at UFC 7.5, three judges scored the bouts to avoid the prospect of any fights resulting in a draw.